The Role of Women in Ancient China. History Essay. (Essay Sample)

THE REMINSCENCES OF PLUM-SHADED CONVENT
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Introduction
“The Reminscences of Plum-shaded Convent” is a prominent Qing memoir that Mao Xiang, an essayist-cum-poet wrote in memory of Dong Xiaowan, his concubine. The memoir is an illustration of the troubled life that a young woman led as a courtesan in ancient China. The story centralizes on the woman’s mission to quit her former life working as a courtesan. She handled all the hurdles that punctuated her short life. In the eventual decade that resulted in her demise, the woman encountered unrelenting problems that she had to endure in solitude. The memoir also constitutes the socio-political transgression that the Chinese society propagated at the time. It depicted the elite life of the Ming-Qing dynasty that was tumultuous transition in the Chinese political history. Importantly, “The Plum-shaded Convent” directly refers to Xiaowan’s burial place. Xiaowan was prominent because of her unmatched beauty and she was named among China’s 17th century “Eight Beauties” that was a great deal at the time.